A/N: HAPPY NEW YEAR! So how was everyone's holidays? It's been a long time since I updated, I know. But hey, new year, new chapter! I'd make it a new year's resolution to update more often.. but I'm not quite sure how that'll turn out. Anyway, I'll try to update faster.. I'm slowly getting my inspiration back (yay!). As usual, thanks again for sticking with this story. And as usual... ENJOY!

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Pinky Promise

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Chapter 16: Don't Give Me That Look

"Don't forget to call me when you get there, okay?" John said with concern as he and Bianca waited at the airport.

"Yes, dad," Bianca rolled her eyes. Since that morning, John wouldn't stop fussing over her. She reached out towards him and cupped his face in her hands. "Seriously, Johnny. Relax. I'm not gonna forget to call," she said casually.

The worry lines in John's face slowly disappeared and he placed his hands over Bianca's. "And are you sure you don't want to switch your seat to first class?"

Bianca let out a loud sigh and released his face, letting both their hands fall into her lap. "It's not a big deal sitting in coach. The flight's not that long anyway," she defended. "Could you please stop worrying about me? It's making me antsy," she smiled softly at him.

"Sorry," John grinned back sheepishly. "I'm gonna miss you, you know," he gazed back at her almost shyly.

Bianca smiled softly. "I know," she nodded, squeezing his much larger hands. "I promise I'll come back as soon as I can." She glanced at the large clock on the wall and sighed heavily. "I should go," she said as she stood up. Her flight to LA would be boarding in less than an hour.

John stood up as well and glanced down at her sadly. "What am I gonna do without you, Binx," he sighed heavily to himself as he pulled her into a tight hug.

"I'm sure Randy has a lot of fun stuff planned for you," Bianca hid the sarcasm in her voice and was glad that John couldn't see her roll her eyes.

"Call me," he told her, kissing her forehead.

"Sure," Bianca closed her eyes at the touch and reopened them when John pulled away slightly. She gazed up at him silently, not wanting to leave yet knowing she had to. "Bye, Johnny," Bianca reached up to guide John's face towards hers, slowly pressing her lips firmly against his.

John easily kissed her back but was disappointed when she pulled away too soon. "Bye," he sighed in defeat.

Bianca smiled sadly at him as she reluctantly pulled away. Grabbing her carry-on, she took one last glance at her fiancé before disappearing into the airport crowd.

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The flight from Phoenix to Los Angeles was only an hour and a half, but it was the longest hour and a half that Bianca ever had to endure. There were just too many things coursing through her mind. She thought about the kiss that still lingered on her lips. She thought about what she was going to say to her parents. She thought about the next time she would see John. She thought about all the evil little schemes that Randy was surely formulating while she was away. She thought about too much.

Once in LA, Bianca exited the airplane, passed through the terminals, and headed straight for the Baggage Claim area in a daze, still too deep in thought. She was startled out of her trance when the carousel jerked alive and the luggage started pouring out. She waited patiently for her luggage to come around.

"There she is!" Bianca turned around at the sound of a familiar voice and smiled as her parents made their way through the crowd towards her.

"Hey guys," Bianca greeted wholeheartedly as her parents engulfed her in a hug.

Bianca was relieved, happy, and ecstatic to see her parents after being away for so long; she really was. However, that still was not enough to stop the feeling of dread that seemed to creep up as they found her luggage, headed towards the car, and drove home. She dreaded going home, knowing that once they got there, her parents would want answers to their unyielding questions.

She sat silently in the back of her father's expensive SUV and nodded casually every now and then to show her parents that she was listening to whatever it was that they were telling her. However, her mind was racing through all sorts of alibis and excuses to give to her parents for why she was away for so long and, if it came to it, why she no longer had a job.

After a while, Bianca sat smiling smugly, confident in her little story that she had invented in her head. However, as they pulled into the driveway and as the mansion came into view, the dreadful feeling came back and all confidence was out the window.

Bianca sighed in defeat and relief. She wasn't sure what she would say to her parents now, or how they would react. But at least it was one less problem that she would have to worry about.

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A permanent pout graced John Cena's face as he pressed his cell phone to his ear and replayed the message. "Hey Johnny. Just wanted to let you know, I'm in LA. I told you I wouldn't forget to call," and John could imagine the smug look on Bianca's face as she said this. "Well, you're probably busy with Randy right now, huh. I guess I'll talk to you later. I miss you already. Love you, Johnny. Bye."

John heard someone scoff next to him as he pocketed his phone, and John turned to give Randy a weary look. "I swear to God, Cena," Randy started, handing John a bottle of Coors, "that's the hundredth time you've checked your voicemail in the last hour." John raised an eyebrow at him but stayed silent. "The voicemail isn't going to change, and I'm pretty sure there's no secret message that you didn't catch either."

John chose to ignore his friend as he turned in his barstool and took a sip of his beer. So what if he couldn't help but to listen to his voicemail? It was the only time Bianca had called, and he had missed it! It had only been a few hours since Bianca had left, and he was already having withdrawals. Pulling his cell phone out again, John stared at the screen for a long time before punching in a number and pressing the call button. He waited as the line rang and rang and rang some more before it reached Bianca's voicemail. Why isn't she picking up, John worried to himself.

Beside him, Randy let out an exasperated sigh. "Wait right here," he instructed before sliding off of the bar stool and leaving John to himself. John watched as Randy disappeared into the crowd of dancing people. He raised an eyebrow at him when the Legend Killer quickly returned with a blonde girl hanging off of his arm. "John, this is Angela," Randy introduced with a smirk before turning to face the blonde. "Angela, John's lonely and is in need of good company," he hinted, causing the blonde to stare at John with hungry eyes.

John frowned. "I'm engaged," he stated, oblivious to the lustful looks that the blonde was throwing his way.

"You're not married yet," Randy retorted, pushing the blonde towards his friend. "Technically, you're still single," he said smartly. The blonde quickly attached herself to John's arm with a high pitched giggle, and Randy grinned at them. "Have fun you two," he sang before disappearing into the crowd again. And John was left to fend for himself.

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Bianca glanced down at her phone, which lit up silently as John called her for the umpteenth time. She inwardly whined to herself as she squirmed in her seat. As much as she wanted to talk to John, she couldn't just yet. Her parents were currently staring her down from across the dining table, and she still had much to explain to them. Pocketing her phone as if to hide the distraction, Bianca glanced up at her parents with too-wide eyes. "So…" she started casually, although she had no intention of instigating an actual conversation.

"So how was your vacation, dear?" Vivian asked sincerely from across the table.

Bianca smiled, memories of John flooding her mind. "It was fun," she answered simply. "I went to some pretty cool places and we did a lot of stuff. Three weeks definitely wasn't enough time," she laughed at the last part, trying to keep the conversation light. Maybe she wouldn't need to answer any questions tonight. However, that last bit was her downfall.

"Yes, we could tell." Her parents laughed along with her. "So Bianca," Larry started with a chuckle. "Are you ready to go back to work?"

Bianca froze. It wasn't a hard question to answer. Hell, her father probably wasn't expecting an answer. It was just a rhetorical question—something to say to make her laugh. But then why was she so tense? This was it, Bianca thought to herself. This was her cue to tell them about her job, and she would have to lie again to save herself. Her heart beat erratically in her chest as she mulled over what to say to them, how to tell them that she no longer had a job and why. She worried about their reaction; would they yell? Scream? Cry? Kick her out? Disown her? What exactly was she even going to say?

Bianca, whose eyes were busy boring holes into the designs of the dining table, slowly looked up at her parents. Now or never, she repeated in her head. She forced her nervousness down with a gulp before letting out an uneasy laugh. "Yeah, about that…"

The smiles on Larry and Vivian's faces slowly faded to worried expressions as the light atmosphere faded. The tone of Bianca's voice was a dead giveaway that she was about to tell them something that they probably wouldn't want to hear. "Bianca?" Larry called out with concern as he and his wife stared at their only daughter.

"Um," Bianca started, her eyebrows furrowing as she bit her lip. Do I really have to tell them? "I'm not…going back…to work," she spoke softly with hesitation, and she lowered her eyes towards the table again, not wanting to see her parents' faces.

"Why?" Larry's voice sounded more in disbelief than angry. Bianca almost let out a sigh of relief. At least they weren't mad…yet.

"Well," she trailed off. She couldn't tell them what she told John. If John was pissed off that she quit, then Bianca didn't want to know how her parents would react. But she couldn't tell them the truth either. What heart surgeon and real estate agent had a daughter who got fired from some mediocre newspaper job? No, her dignity, as well as her parents' pride would be shot to shit if any one of their friends found out that the beloved daughter of Larry and Vivian Evans—their pride and joy—was fired. Bianca had to lie again, and she nodded to herself once as if to accept that fact.

"Bianca, honey, what's going on?" This time it was Vivian whose voice dripped with worry.

Bianca took a deep breath to prepare herself before answering. "I'm taking a break from work."

"But you just took three weeks off?" Still disbelief.

Bianca shook her head. "That's not what I mean," she replied, her mind still racing through possibilities. "I meant, more than three weeks…More like...a year..."

At this, Vivian's head popped up as she made a mental connection, and she stared directly at her daughter with wide, accusing eyes. There was only one plausible reason why a woman would take about a year off from work. "Are you pregnant?"

Bianca's eyes widened in horror. "Mom!" She scrunched her face up. How dare she even think that!

"Is that why you're marrying him!?" Vivian continued on.

"No!" Bianca quickly replied. "No." She turned to look at her father, who was bordering on hysteria and anger. "Daddy, I swear to god that's not it," she said with pleading eyes, watching as Larry's fists—which first tightened at Vivian's accusations—slowly loosened. Bianca frowned at the both of her parents for their overreactions. "Geez!"

"Then what, for god's sake, Bianca, are you taking a year off of work for?" Vivian frustratingly asked.

Bianca cringed away slightly. Now what? She tried to come up with something that her mother would understand. Anything that would get Vivian to realize why a year off was necessary. And then, Bianca remembered something…

...

*Flashback*

Vivian Evans slapped a stack of bridal magazines down onto the dining table in front of her daughter, who looked up at her with a raised eyebrow. "Now Bianca, don't give me that look," she said as she took a seat across from her daughter.

"What's all this?" Bianca asked, picking up a magazine and casually flipping through it.

"Well, you're getting married aren't you?" Her mother answered. "A wedding is not going to plan itself," she stated matter-of-factly.

Bianca rolled her eyes. "Mom, I just got engaged a few days ago. Do we really need to do this now?" She asked, motioning at the pile of magazines before her. She didn't know a thing about weddings. And wasn't wedding planning a couple's thing anyway? Should she really start planning without John?

Vivian scoffed. "Yes. The sooner you start planning, the better."

*End Flashback*

...

"Mom," Bianca started thoughtfully. "Remember when I just got engaged?" She subconsciously twirled the ring on her finger as she said this. "You told me something. You said the sooner I started planning for my wedding, the better." Bianca waited for her mother to acknowledge this with a nod before continuing. "Which is why I wanna start now. I know planning a wedding takes a lot of time and hard work. I don't need a job to distract me. I wanna focus on this one hundred percent."

"Are you sure about this?" Vivian's frustration was no longer there, only love and concern for her daughter. She reached across the table to squeeze her daughter's hand.

"Just trust me on this, okay?" She looked at both of her parents with pleading eyes, and she sighed in relief when they both nodded silently.

"What about your apartment? The bills?" Bianca inwardly smiled. Her mother was never one to leave any rock unturned.

"I've already handled that," she answered briefly.

"How?"

"Sold it," Bianca sighed almost sadly.

"That's why you left your stuff here with us," Larry suddenly spoke, making connections in his mind. Bianca nodded silently.

"Then where will you stay? Here?" Bianca smiled warmly at the hopeful look Vivian was giving her, but she shook her head in answer.

"I'm traveling with John," Bianca told them. "It really is fun. And we can both plan the wedding together. It'll be perfect." She grinned.

"And what happens when you get tired of all the plane rides and hotel rooms?" Bianca's worrisome mother asked.

"John has a house in Tampa," she simply answered.

Larry chuckled softly. "You've planned this out, haven't you, Bianca?" Was that pride emanating from his expression?

Bianca grinned sheepishly. That wasn't the case at all. She wondered what her parents would think if they ever found out she was planning things as they came along. "Something like that," she replied. "Please don't worry about me," Bianca told her parents, reaching across the table to take both of their hands in her own. "I know what I'm doing, and John is taking really good care of me."

Larry nodded. "We know," he said, speaking for his wife as well. "We trust that you know what's best for yourself, Bianca. And we'll try to support you in whatever you decide to do."

"We love you, sweetie," Vivian added with a genuine smile.

Bianca could feel the tears welling up in her eyes as she made her way around the table to embrace her parents tightly. Everything seemed to be playing out in her favor. "I love you guys too."

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A/N: So yeah, it's a bit sappy and corny and whatever. You all must be wondering.. What's going to happen with John and that blonde chick!? You thought I forgot about them, ehh? Well, you'll see what happens... (Dun dun dunnnn!!!) So stay tuned...

Oh, and as usual, reviews are more than welcome!